48-455: Hull Trains is an open-access railway operator in England owned by the multinational transport company FirstGroup . It operates long-distance passenger services between Hull Paragon / Beverley and London King's Cross . It has a track-access agreement until December 2032. Hull Trains was originally established in 1999 in the aftermath of the privatisation of British Rail in response to
96-453: A 10% stake in the new entity. In December 1999, a four-year track-access agreement was granted to Hull Trains by the Office of Rail Regulation . According to rail industry periodical Rail Express , the application had been vigorously resisted by the incumbent train operators, such as West Anglia Great Northern . Furthermore, national infrastructure owner Railtrack had allegedly demonstrated
144-704: A Class 222 Pioneer was damaged when it was dropped off a maintenance jack; it would ultimately take two years to repair. After a period of making do with only three trains, in January 2008 a Class 86 electric locomotive was hired from the AC Locomotive Group to haul a set of Mark 3s hired from Cargo-D for weekend London King's Cross to Doncaster services. The first set of five-car Class 180 Adelante units entered service with First Hull Trains in April 2008. In total, four sets were introduced releasing
192-497: A consequence of the recommendations in the investigation report. It provides a focus for individuals and organisations involved in rail welding and facilitates the adoption of best practice. The aftermath of the crash had long-reaching repercussions in the rail industry. In 2015, at the fifteenth anniversary of the accident, the Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) said a new system for handling maintenance introduced by Network Rail
240-469: A critical size, the rail fails. Portions of the failed track at Hatfield were reassembled and numerous fatigue cracks were identified. They contributed to the spalling of the running surface to around five millimetres (0.2 in) deep and 100 millimetres (3.9 in) long. The problem was known about before the accident; a letter from the infrastructure company Railtrack in December 1999 warned that
288-491: A direct service from Cleethorpes to London King's Cross, calling at Grimsby , Barnetby , Market Rasen , Lincoln , Sleaford , Spalding and Peterborough . In 2008, First Hull Trains applied for track access rights to run services between Harrogate and London King's Cross via York under the First Harrogate Trains banner and from Cleethorpes to King's Cross via Lincoln and Spalding. In January 2009,
336-626: A fleet of Class 170 trains. There was at least one occurrence of an Anglia Railways Class 86 and Mark 2 set operating as far as Doncaster . When the Strategic Rail Authority changed its policy on allowing train operating company assets to be hired out, Hull Trains needed to acquire its own fleet. It ordered four 3-car Class 170 Turbostars , the first entering service in March 2004. These were intended only as an interim solution as four 4-car Class 222 Pioneers were ordered at
384-512: A fourth daily service started, followed by a fifth in May 2004, a sixth in May 2005, and a seventh in December 2006. On 4 February 2015, one service per weekday was extended from Hull Paragon to Beverley in each direction. In December 2015, one service was extended to Beverley at weekends. In May 2019, a further service in each direction was extended from Hull Paragon to Beverley on weekdays. In September 2001, Hull Trains announced initial proposals for
432-605: A further 10-year open-access agreement until 2029, allowing it to proceed with ordering five Class 802 electro-diesel multiple-unit trains which had been announced by the operator on 3 September 2015. In 2017, Hull Trains was named the Best UK Train Operator, having scored a 97% satisfaction rate for its services, according to the National Rail Passenger Survey. At late March 2020, Hull Trains temporarily suspended all services due to
480-501: A further 20 years, finally being scrapped at Sims Metals Scrapyard in Nottingham in 2021. As a result of its involvement in both accidents, it had gained the unofficial nickname 'Lucky'. In 2003, five managers and two companies – Network Rail (as successors of Railtrack) and the division of Balfour Beatty that maintained the track – were charged with manslaughter and breach of health and safety charges in connection with
528-441: A majority of the national network for more than a year. The disruption and Railtrack's spiralling costs eventually caused the company to enter administration at the insistence of Transport Secretary Stephen Byers , and its replacement by the not-for-dividend company Network Rail under Byers's successor Alistair Darling . Train operating companies were adversely affected by the disruption, losing an estimated 19% of revenue in
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#1732771836942576-540: A maximum speed of 100 mph (160 km/h), but the introduction of the Class 222 enabled speeds to be raised to 125 mph (201 km/h). As of 2022, Hull Trains' services are operated by a fleet of five Class 802 Paragon bi-mode multiple units (BMUs). In 2020 and 2021, multiple temporary suspensions of service were enacted due to the COVID-19 pandemic . Regular services resumed on 12 April 2021. In 1999, there
624-453: A poor ability in identifying potential paths for the service. In Hull Trains' favour was the support of several prominent figures, including members of parliament , who were keen to support an initiative that would provide Hull with improved transportation. On 25 September 2000, Hull Trains officially launched its operations with its first service departing King's Cross station. Early passenger numbers were encouraging. However, an early blow to
672-474: A £60 million order for five new five-car bi-mode high-speed trains from Hitachi Rail with seating for 320 people. In its proposed track access application, Hull Trains confirmed that these would be Class 802 . In August 2019, Hull Trains announced that it would branding its new trains as the 'Paragon' fleet. The first unit entered service on 5 December 2019, with the Class 180 fleet not seeing service again following service suspension on 19 March 2020 due to
720-455: Is an operator that takes full commercial risk, running on infrastructure owned by a third party and buying paths on a chosen route and, in countries where rail services run under franchises, are not subject to franchising. This rail-transport related article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Hatfield rail crash The Hatfield rail crash was a railway accident on 17 October 2000, at Hatfield, Hertfordshire . It
768-428: The COVID-19 pandemic . In the Class 802 units, coach A is standard seating with wheelchair accommodation, coach B and coach C are both standard seating, coach D is both standard- and first-class seating and coach E is completely first-class seating with wheelchair accommodation. The units do not have a cafe bar compared to the Class 180 units they replaced. When Hull Trains was initially established, one early obstacle
816-572: The COVID-19 pandemic . Throughout the pandemic, there was concern that the company would be unable to survive without help from the government. However, Hull Trains was able to resume services on 21 August 2020. In October 2020, a three-year extension on Hull Trains' access rights was granted. Following the implementation of a second lockdown directed by the British government, Hull Trains announced on 2 November 2020 that it would once again be temporarily suspending all services from 5 November 2020. After
864-660: The Class 180s were also given a refresh internally with new seat covers and a deep clean. New catering facilities for first class were also provided, and externally the units were repainted in FirstGroup's neon blue livery. Following further reliability problems with the Class 180s, an InterCity 125 HST set was hired from Great Western Railway in February 2019. In April 2019, Hull Trains introduced another HST set to its network following more reliability problems. Both of these HST sets returned to GWR in December 2019. Following
912-543: The Office of Rail Regulation released its decisions on the ECML route planning and rejected First Harrogate Trains' application. On 5 January 2024, Hull Trains announced that it had submitted an application for a new service between London King's Cross and Sheffield. The trains would also serve Woodhouse and Worksop . The company plans to start this service in the second half of 2025. In September 2015, Hull Trains announced
960-425: The accident saw widespread speed limit reductions throughout the rail network and a tightening of health and safety procedures, the repercussions of which were still felt years later. In 2005, both Railtrack and the contractor Balfour Beatty were found guilty of breaching health and safety laws. A Great North Eastern Railway (GNER) InterCity 225 train bound for Leeds had left London King's Cross at 12:10, and
1008-530: The accident. The managers, Anthony Walker (Balfour Beatty's rail maintenance director), Nicholas Jeffries (its civil engineer ), Railtrack's Alistair Cook and Sean Fugill (asset managers for the London North-East zone), and track engineer Keith Lee, all denied the charges. The corporate manslaughter charges against Railtrack/Network Rail and some of its executives were dropped in September 2004, but
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#17327718369421056-471: The company came in the form of widespread disruption resulting from the Hatfield rail crash ; months of speed limitations and temporary line closures heavily impacted services, albeit softened somewhat by compensation payments for lost income issued by Railtrack. In its first year of operation, Hull Trains reportedly carried roughly 80,000 passengers. During September 2002, Hull Trains' track-access agreement
1104-452: The existing Railtrack Line Specification was insufficient to guard against this type of fatigue. Replacement rails were made available but never delivered to the correct location for installation. Since privatisation, Railtrack had divested the engineering knowledge of British Rail to contractors. While it had comprehensive maintenance procedures that might have prevented the accident if followed appropriately, later investigation showed there
1152-496: The firm's access rights were extended until December 2014, and in February 2010, these rights were further extended until December 2016. That same year, its services comprised 1.25 million seats annually. In August 2014, FirstGroup purchased the remaining 20% shareholding in the business. In January 2015, the track access agreement was extended until December 2019. That same year, the firm also resumed trading as Hull Trains. During March 2016, First Hull Trains obtained approval for
1200-595: The former British Rail managers Mike Jones and John Nelson held the remainder. A majority stake in the company was acquired by FirstGroup in August 2003, leading to its rebranding as First Hull Trains five years later. FirstGroup made it a wholly-owned subsidiary by buying out the other shareholder in the venture during August 2014; that same year, the Hull Trains name was readopted. Hull Trains initially ran three services per day; in response to passenger numbers, this
1248-928: The introduction of the Class 802 units, the Class 180 units were transferred in stages to East Midlands Railway to replace EMR's three six-carriage HSTs inherited from Grand Central . The first two units transferred to Derby Etches Park in January 2020 after a period in storage at Crofton Depot , and the final two followed in summer 2020. Maintenance of the Class 180 Adelantes was undertaken at Old Oak Common Depot alongside First Great Western 's fleet until this depot closed in 2018. Two sets (or occasionally three if there were no sets on maintenance) were stabled and serviced each night in Hull sidings by Hull Trains staff (where there were usually two fitters on at night to undertake basic fault repair and diagnostics) with fuelling and emptying of toilet tanks being undertaken at Arriva Rail North 's Botanic Gardens TMD . The third service set
1296-523: The locomotive in the crash was also involved in the Selby rail crash (where the leading DVT hit a road vehicle on the track) four months later. A preliminary investigation found a rail had fragmented as trains passed and that the likely cause was " rolling contact fatigue " (defined as multiple surface-breaking cracks). Such cracks are caused by high loads where the wheels contact the rail. Repeated high loading causes fatigue cracks to grow. When they reach
1344-431: The locomotive-hauled fleet and the three Class 222 Pioneer sets. The latter was transferred to East Midlands Trains along with the unit that was damaged. The Class 180s enabled First Hull Trains to provide more capacity by its additional carriage, but when the units first arrived they were plagued by technical difficulties, and a period of poor reliability for the company followed. However, reliability later improved and
1392-451: The low volume of trains between Hull and London King's Cross operated by the incumbent franchise . Their initial track-access agreement was granted in December 1999, permitting operations to be launched on 25 September 2000. Hull Trains' track-access agreement has been extended multiple times since commencing operations. Ownership was originally divided between an 80 per cent stake held by the train operating company (TOC) GB Railways , while
1440-503: The maximum speed of Hull Trains' services to be increased from 100 to 125 mph (161 to 201 km/h), both shortening journey times and being more easy to slot around high speed services on the East Coast Main Line . During 2006, the number of first class passenger seats on each train was increased from 22 to 33 by reconfiguring their interiors, which included the removal of some standard class seating. In January 2007,
1488-568: The network could lead to a similar accident. It consequently imposed over 1,800 emergency speed restrictions and instigated a costly nationwide track replacement programme. The company was subject to "enforcement" by the Rail Regulator , Tom Winsor . In 2004, Steve Arthur's widow was awarded £1 million damages in the High Court . The families of the other three fatal casualties received damages out of court. A memorial service
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1536-509: The other charges stood. The trial began in January 2005; the judge, Mr Justice Mackay, warned that it could go on for a year. On 14 July, the judge instructed the jury to acquit all defendants on charges of manslaughter. A few days later, Balfour Beatty changed its plea to guilty on the health and safety charges, and on 6 September, Network Rail was found guilty of breaching health and safety law. Network Rail were fined £3.5 million while Balfour Beatty were fined £10 million. All of
1584-469: The same time, but because the former were part of a speculative order already placed by Porterbrook they would be available in time. The Class 170 Turbostars entered service in March 2004. It was planned that after being replaced, they would then be used on new services, but these services were never introduced, so the Class 170 trains were transferred to First ScotRail . The Class 222 Pioneers entered service from May 2005. Their introduction allowed for
1632-483: The second lockdown ended, Hull Trains resumed service on 3 December 2020 with a limited timetable. Following a third lockdown's implementation, Hull Trains announced on 5 January 2021 that it would be once again temporarily suspending all services from 9 January 2021. Regular services resumed on 12 April 2021. In August 2021 the track access agreement was extended until December 2032. Hull Trains began operating three services per day on 25 September 2000. In December 2002,
1680-487: The train passed over it. The train travelled a further 1,000 yards (910 m) after derailment. The leading locomotive and the first two coaches remained upright and on the rails. All of the following coaches and the trailing Driving Van Trailer (DVT) were derailed, and the train set separated into three sections. The restaurant coach, the eighth vehicle in the set, overturned onto its side and struck an overhead line gantry after derailing, resulting in severe damage to
1728-423: The vehicle. The whole incident occurred in 17 seconds. Four passengers died in the accident and a further 33 were initially reported as injured, three seriously. The number of injured was later revised to over 70. Those who died were all in the restaurant coach: Two of those seriously injured were GNER staff working in the restaurant coach at the time of the accident. Emmerdale actress Anna Brecon
1776-401: The year following the crash. Freight operator EWS was cancelling up to 400 trains per week as a result, whilst estimates put Freightliner 's resultant losses at £1 million per month. The cost to the entire UK economy of the disruption was estimated at £6 million per day. The Institute of Rail Welding (IoRW) was set up in 2002 by The Welding Institute (TWI) and Network Rail as
1824-594: Was a serious problem with the experience and working knowledge of staff. In a subsequent interview, the Zone Quality Standards Manager said, "I do not have knowledge of railway engineering nor railway safety", which was completely contrary to the written requirements for the role. In May 1999, the Head of Track had said that insufficiently-skilled work was causing more rails to break. Railtrack did not know how many other cases of rail fatigue around
1872-446: Was a shortage of viable rolling stock. Brush Traction was approached with a request to build additional Class 43 power cars, but this proved to be uneconomic due to the need for extensive updates to comply with up-to-date safety legislation; instead, successful negotiations were completed to lease 3-car Class 170 Turbostars from sister GB Railways company Anglia Railways . Hull Trains commenced operations on 25 September 2000 with
1920-433: Was caused by a metal fatigue -induced derailment , killing four people and injuring more than 70. The accident exposed major stewardship shortcomings of the privatised national railway infrastructure company Railtrack . Reports found there was a lack of communication and some staff were not aware of maintenance procedures. Railtrack subsequently went into administration and was replaced by Network Rail . The aftermath of
1968-491: Was confusing, and there was the potential for a similar accident. The union's general secretary said that Network Rail needed to act on its concerns, otherwise there would be industrial action . The Class 91 powering the train involved in the Hatfield rail crash would later be involved in the Selby rail crash four months later, sustaining minor damage. It was repaired again following the accident, and remained in service for
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2016-498: Was extended by ten years. In August 2003, through the purchase of GB Railways by the British transport conglomerate FirstGroup in exchange for £22 million, the latter business took possession of their majority shareholding in Hull Trains. During 2005, Hull Trains celebrated carrying its one-millionth passenger. In June 2008, Hull Trains was rebranded as First Hull Trains , as well as adopting FirstGroup's corporate blue, pink and white colours as its livery. During January 2009,
2064-454: Was held for the victims on the tenth anniversary of the crash in 2010 at St Etheldreda's Church, Hatfield . A second service was held near the crash site afterwards. Both were conducted by the Rector of Hatfield, who had attended to casualties and the bereaved in the immediate aftermath of the accident in 2000. The speed restrictions and track replacement works caused significant disruption on
2112-450: Was only one through train per day each way between Hull Paragon and London King's Cross , GNER's Hull Executive . During May 1999, former British Rail managers Mike Jones and John Nelson lodged an application to operate an open-access service through their Renaissance Trains business. A joint venture was formed with the train operating company (TOC) GB Railways , which took an 80% shareholding, while Jones and Nelson each held
2160-499: Was progressively expanded to as many as seven services per day by December 2006. In addition to increasing service frequency, the number of cars per train was also raised to boost capacity. Hull Trains initially operated a small fleet of three-car Class 170 Turbostar diesel multiple units (DMUs); six years later, it exchanged these for four-car Class 222 Pioneer DMUs, followed by several five-car Class 180 Adelante DMUs and InterCity 125 HST sets. Early services were limited to
2208-401: Was stabled at either Bounds Green or Old Oak Common as service requirements dictated. A day fitter was based at Hull from Bombardier at Crofton TMD . The Class 802s are maintained by Hitachi at Bounds Green depot with overnight servicing continuing to take place at Northern Trains Hull Botanic Gardens TMD. Open access operator In rail transport , an open-access operator
2256-430: Was travelling along the East Coast Main Line at approximately 115 mph (185 km/h) when it derailed south of Hatfield station at 12:23. The train was in the control of an experienced driver trainer accompanied by a trainee driver. It had been agreed at Kings Cross that the trainee would drive the 12:10 service to Leeds. The primary cause of the accident was later determined to be the left-hand rail fracturing as
2304-530: Was travelling on the train, and suffered minor cuts and bruises. Another passenger was the television reporter Justin Rowlatt , who said he "watched the carriages skid and whip around on the gravel besides the track". Crash investigators found the British Rail -designed Mark 4 coaches had good structural integrity and, aside from the restaurant coach, remained intact after the accident. Coincidentally,
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